Spurs can’t avoid downpour in OKC

OKLAHOMA CITY — After the final horn sounded on a disappointing end to an unexpected season, Spurs forward Tim Duncan wandered the floor of Chesapeake Energy Arena, still a man on a mission.

He offered a laudatory hug to every Oklahoma City player he could find, to Thunder coach Scott Brooks, to half the coaching staff.

OKC had just banked a come-from-behind 107-99 victory in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals Wednesday, punching its ahead-of-schedule ticket to the NBA Finals.

Congratulations complete, Duncan began the long, slow walk toward the losing locker room and into a future more uncertain.

“I thought this was definitely our time, our time to get back to the Finals, our time to push for another championship,” Duncan said later in the quiet team dressing room. “That was our singular goal, and obviously it ends here.”

In the span of six days, the Spurs’ 20-game winning streak gave way to a playoff ouster, and Game 6 bore that swing in a microcosm.

The Spurs led by 18 in the first half, putting together the kind of two quarters that had to have coach Gregg Popovich wondering why he didn’t see more halves like it earlier in the series.

Tony Parker was dealing en route to 21 points and 10 assists in the first half, reserve forward Stephen Jackson was doing unspeakable things to pressure, hitting 4 of 4 from 3-point range, and the Spurs were playing with the energy of a team not ready for the ride to end.

Kevin Durant poured in 34 points to go with 14 rebounds, Russell Westbrook added 25 points, and James Harden and ancient Spurs killer Derek Fisher each hit big threes down the stretch, lifting the OKC franchise to its first NBA Finals since 1996.

To get here, all the Thunder had to do was get through Dallas, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Spurs, winners of 10 of the past 13 NBA titles.

“As sad and as disappointed as we are,” Popovich said, “it’s like a Hollywood script for Oklahoma City.”

For the Spurs, who became the first team in NBA history to win its first 10 playoff games and not make the Finals, the movie ending wasn’t in the cards.

After his hot start, Parker finished with 29 points and 12 assists. Duncan went out like a 36-year-old former champion should, with 25 points and 14 rebounds.

Jackson finished with 23 points and made 6 of 7 threes.

An 11-2 run to start the second half got the Thunder back in the game, igniting a 32-18 quarter that doomed the Spurs.

Still, the Spurs were ahead by a point heading into the fourth, and the game was still winnable going down the stretch.

Duncan had just pulled the Spurs within two points with 4:52 to go when Fisher took aim and buried a corner 3-pointer to increase the OKC lead again.

“Bottom line: They made the shots they had to make,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said.

And so it went for the Spurs, who after taking a 2-0 lead in the series, became collateral damage to OKC’s charge to destiny.

For the fifth consecutive season, the Spurs end with a locker cleanout in lieu of a river parade, the longest title drought of Duncan’s distinguished career.

He will be a free agent come July 1, expected to re-sign with the only team he’s ever known. The Spurs, aging at the core but still among the West’s elite, will face another offseason of familiar questions. But Wednesday, the Spurs were the spectators to a coming-out party.

“I thought everybody gave all they could,” Duncan said. “OKC just showed they were a better team.”